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Unit V

Influencing the American Political

System

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Unit V Influencing the American Political System

Key Understandings:

1. Political Activity is Economic Activity.

2. There is a political invisible hand

3. Competition in politics is similar and different to that of competition in the economy.

4. Politics is the act of influencing government decisions to allocate public resources.

5. People acting in the political marketplace have some concern for others, their main motive, whether they are voters, politicians, lobbyists, or bureaucrats, is self-interest.

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Key Terms:

Politics- The act and theory of influencing public decisions and politics.

Political Parties- Political Parties are formed by people who share similar ideas. The goals of the party are to influence and control government decisions by getting their representatives elected into public office.

Political Spectrum- A system of classifying different political positions upon one or more geometric axes that symbolize independent political dimensions.

Conservative- A political philosophy that promotes tradition values and institutions.

Liberal- A political philosophy that promotes social justice and that the legitimate role of the state includes addressing issues such as unemployment, health care, education, and the expansion of civil rights.

Statist/Populist- the belief that a government should control either economic or social policy, or both, to some degree

Libertarian- political philosophies that uphold liberty as the highest political end. This includes emphasis on the primacy of individual liberty, political freedom, and voluntary association.

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Key Terms:

Median Voter Theorem- theory that if there are only two politicians, then a politician maximizes their number of votes by committing to the policy position preferred by the median voter.

Interest Groups- Private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy. Interest groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy. Groups vary considerably in size, influence, and motive; some have wide ranging long term social purposes, others are focused and are a response to an immediate issue or concern.

Lobbying- Any action that places pressure on legislatures and influences the legislative process.

Political Action Committees- A political organization created to raise and spend money in order to get candidates elected or defeated.

Public Choice Theory- The use of economic tools to deal with traditional problems of political science.

Primary- Election- Is an election that narrows the field of candidates before an election for office. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for an upcoming general election.

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Key Terms:

Closed Primary- Only registered party members can vote in the primary election.

Open Primary- All registered voters regardless of party may vote in the primary election.

Party Platform- Is a list of positions and proposed actions that a party take on contemporary issues.

Plank- An individual issue on the party platform.

Propaganda- Techniques of persuasion aimed at influence individual or group thoughts.

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Key People/Groups:

Republican Party- One of two main political parties in the United States. The platform of the Republican party is based on conservative ideas.

Democratic Party- One of two main political parties in the United States. The platform of the Democratic Party is based on liberal ideas.

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Important Documents and outside readings:

The Public Choice School: Politics as a Business

Politics and the English Language

Websites:

Republic Party website

Democratic Party website

Opensecrets.org

http://ontheissues.org

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Politics can be defined as the act of influencing government and public decisions. For our purposes we will also apply economic thought to the political process and the political market. By taking this approach we will gain a better understanding of why public decisions are made and the impacts of those decisions. Often when people think about politics they immediately think about political parties, however in this class we will focus on 4 main actors in the political process. Those actors include voters, special interest groups, politicians, and bureaucrats and together they make up the political market.

Political activity is economic activity, the concepts of self-interest, utility maximization, mutual exchange, the invisible hand, and trade-offs that apply to the free market also apply to the political market. Economics focuses on individual private choices, while politics focuses on collective public choices.

We have parallel systems that people use to achieve their goals. People try to get want they want through markets or they try to get want they want through politics. Both can be effective but both exert different types of costs.

As noted in unit 3, one of the key components of markets is entrepreneurship. Private entrepreneurs recognize opportunities to satisfy consumers' wants by promoting new or better ideas, products and services. There are also political entrepreneurs who promote promises (ideas, ideology, services, and policies) to satisfy voters.

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Voters and consumers are rational actors, they are the same people. The person waiting in line to vote is the same person waiting in line to buy food at Wawa. Voters and consumers are self-interested people looking to improve their lives. However, the incentives in private decisions are different than public decisions.

Consumers vote with their money and have different amounts to spend per product. Consumers make decisions based on perceived value, perceived cost, and perceived benefits. If they really like something they can spend more money on it. Stores want to continuous satisfy the people’s wants to receive continued business. And if a consumer pays for the product they get the product. In politics voters get one vote per election and voters get want they voted for only if 50% of the other voters agree with them.

Consumers compare prices to income and only buy those products that they can afford. Voters on the other hand often vote for politicians that make promises that we all have to pay for. As Fredich Bastiat would say, we see the benefits but the unseen cost are just as important.

Consumers are very aware of the cost and benefits of their private decisions, in terms of public decisions we often see the benefits but don’t see the cost.

Another difference between consumers and voters is the number of options that each has when making a decision. Go to the food store and count the different brands of any product. Each brand promises something different. For example, if a consumer wants bread what are his or her options? The consumer considers tastes, white, wheat, rye, etc. They consider health concerns white or gluten free? And of course they look at the price, high end or store brand?

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But in politics voters are often left with only two and sometimes three choices. On top of that it would be impossible for a candidate to satisfy every desire of each unique voter. As a result the general electorate has a choice between similar yet differentiated political parties. The two main political parties in this nation are the Republicans and Democrats and as we will find out later in this unit, if a candidate hopes to win an election he or she must conform to the positions of each party.

Political scientists use political spectrums to show how different political ideologies relate to each other.

Diagram a depicts the traditional political spectrum.

Diagram a.

People who have more liberal ideas generally fall to the left on he spectrum. The term liberal refers to apolitical philosophy that promotes social justice and that the legitimate role of the state includes addressing issues such as unemployment, health care, education, and the expansion of civil rights .

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People with more conservative views fall to the right of moderate. The term conservative a political philosophy that promotes tradition values and institutions. Political Parties are formed by people who share similar ideas. The goals of the party are to influence and control government decisions by getting their representatives elected into public office. Democrats in general favor liberal ideas while Republicans favor conservative ideas.

Although they have different views, in the United States, liberals and conservatives are generally more moderate as compared to some of the more extreme philosophies identified in diagram a.

Let’s take a look at take a look at the differing views that liberal and conservative thinkers have for specific topics.

Political Views and Scope of Government

Conservative thought favors smaller national governments with less regulations. Services should be provided by the free market or by state governments. Conservative thinkers favor a stricter interpretation of the Constitution. The main responsibility of the national government is protecting the citizens from foreign threats.

Liberal thinkers are more accepting of larger national governments. Services such as Medicare and universal healthcare should be provided by the federal government. Liberal thought favors a looser interpretation of the Constitutions and implied powers based on promoting the general welfare of the citizens.

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Economic Views and the role of Government

Conservatives thinkers favor less government interaction and regulation of the economy. To balance the budget spending should be cut. Additionally, all forms of taxation should be cut for all income levels. Conservative thought favors supply-side methods to create growth and adopting measures to limit the power and influence of the Federal Reserve. Between the two conservative views favor economic freedom over economic equality of results. Finally, conservative thinkers believe that people should help the poor by voluntarily donating to charities.

Overall, liberal thinkers support policy that promotes economic equality. From a liberal point of view, laws should be created that protect everybody’s equality even if that means limiting someone else’s economic freedom. The government should provide more programs to the less fortunate and if necessary raise taxes on the wealthy to fund social welfare programs. Liberal thinkers support progressive taxation to help re-distribute the wealth. In terms of economic policy, liberals are more supportive of Keynesian demand-side approaches.

Social Views and the Role of Government

Conservative philosophy stresses traditional values and group welfare. Often phrases such as family-values, patriotism, and personal responsibility associated with conservative thinking. Conservatives are willing to trade-off social freedoms and liberties to maintain the traditional values. As a result, conservatives favor laws that limit abortion, limit the ability of same sex couples to marry, and restrict drug use.

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Socially speaking, liberal thinkers highly value individual liberty. Often liberal groups will come to the defense of individuals who they feel have had their natural rights violated. To liberal thinkers an individual’s freedom of expressions and freedom from government coercion are the foundation of our society. Those who take a liberal position generally support pro-choice legislation, same-sex marriage, and eliminating other laws that they feel limit individual expression and freedom.

Other Key Issues:

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Make of list of factors that influence people’s views.

As mentioned before people with similar ideas come together and form groups. In terms of political parties people with mostly conservative views generally feel more comfortable with the Republican party, while folks who favor the liberal point of view identify more with the Democratic Party.The Moderates in the Middle: Centrism

There is a lot of time spent discussing liberal and conservative points of view but most Americans don’t fit neatly into any ideological camp. They consider themselves moderates, or middle-of-the-road voters. These are people who sit at the center of the political spectrum, between the ideologies of left and right.

In recent years, U.S. politics have become more polarized, meaning that political parties have adopted more extreme policies. The Republican Party has grown more conservative, and the Democratic Party more liberal. This polarization is especially evident in the current Congress, which remains divided on a number of issues.

These strong divisions often push voters to be drawn to centrism [centrism: an ideology at the middle of the political spectrum that combines elements of both liberal and conservative thought] . Many surveys show that moderates, along with people who describe themselves as slightly conservative or slightly liberal, make up the largest group of U.S. voters.

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Unlike people with a strong ideological point of view, centrists may hold a mix of liberal, conservative, and perhaps environmental views. Centrism is not an ideology with its own political party. At election time, they often cross party lines, depending on the candidates and issues of the day.

Many people have argued that the single axis political spectrum is too simplistic of a model and does not provide an accurate or complete representation of the voters’ views. By creating a political spectrum with 2 axes, one representing social issues and one representing economic issues we can generate a more accurate political spectrum.

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The political spectrum on the above introduces two new positions; Statist and Libertarian.

Those who favor the statist position believe that it is the government’s responsibility to get involved in the economy and in social issues.

Libertarians on the other hand promote individual freedom and choice over the collective decisions of government.

Diagram b

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Diagram cDiagram c is a visual representation of student results in previous classes. The majority of students fall under Centrist. Like the students in previous classes, most American have a mix of conservative and liberal positions. In some situations people may adopt the libertarian view that government has no business becoming involved in individual choice. But for other circumstances those same individuals may feel that the government must exert power of the individuals. The idea that the majority of individuals are moderate or centrist probably doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to most people, what may be surprising however is the notion that political parties and politicians seem to be moving further away from the middle.

It contradicts the law of supply in the sense that if the “higher price” in the form of votes and campaign finances can be found in the middle, shouldn’t the “supply” in the form of policy and campaigning also be directed toward the middle? The fact that it is not must be addressed later in the unit.

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Political Parties:

Political Parties are formed by people who share similar ideas. The goals of the party are to influence and control government decisions by getting their representatives elected into public office.

Political parties have played an important role in American politics since the early years of the Republic. Yet many of the nation’s founders did not approve of parties. In his Farewell Address of 1796, George Washington warned against “the baneful effects of the spirit of party.” He believed that parties would divide the American people and have a negative influence on government.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson shared Washington’s concern. Adams said, “There is nothing which I dread so much as the division of the Republic into two great parties . . . in opposition to each other.” Jefferson claimed, “If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” Nevertheless, both men eventually became leaders of political parties, and the party system itself became entrenched in American politics.

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The number purpose of a political party is to get their candidate elected.

Parties recruit candidates and support campaigns. Each year, political parties seek out and enlist candidates to run for thousands of local, state, and national offices. They look for people with the skills to run a successful electoral campaign and to be effective in office. Political parties also provide some funding for candidates. When a party officially nominates a candidate for office they are in effect giving their stamp of approval. The party attaches their name and reputation to the candidate, therefor they will seek the highest quality.

Parties help organize elections and inform voters. Although state and local governments run elections, political parties help by promoting voter interest and participation. They register voters and monitor the polls on Election Day. They also help inform voters on political issues. Parties work very hard to activate voters thus increasing voter participation.

Parties organize the government. Congress and most state legislatures are organized along party lines. After congressional elections, members of the majority party in Congress choose one of their members to be speaker of the house or Senate majority leader. Committee chairpersons in Congress also come from the majority party.

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Parties unite diverse interests and make collective action possible. Parties bring diverse groups together by building coalitions based on shared beliefs and common goals. Delegates attending national party conventions create platforms [platform: a political party’s statement of principles and objectives] that outline the party’s position on important issues. In that process, they seek to balance the interests and concerns of members from across the country. Their goal is to produce a document that all party members can unite behind to achieve their shared political objectives.

Parties serve as a loyal opposition to the political party in power. The goal of a political party is to win control of the government so that it can translate its objectives into laws and policies. The party not in power, or the minority, serves as a “loyal opposition” to the majority party. Minority party members act as critics of the majority party’s proposals. They also serve as government watchdogs, always on the lookout for corruption or abuses of power.

How do political parties impact the Constitutional principle of a separation of powers and checks and balances?

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Interest Groups and Political Action Committees.

Interest groups are private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy. Interest groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy. Groups vary considerably in size, influence, and motive; some have wide ranging long term social purposes, others are focused and are a response to an immediate issue or concern.

Many Americans distrust special interests. They believe that these groups seek to achieve their goals at the expense of society as a whole. According to this view, interest groups represent a selfish, corrupting force in U.S. politics. Is this a valid criticism or an unjust accusation?

More than two centuries ago, James Madison addressed this question in The Federalist Papers. In The Federalist #10, he wrote that “factions”—his term for interest groups—posed a threat to democratic government if their power went unchecked. At the same time, he believed that the growth of interest groups was inevitable, and even a good thing, in a society that prized freedom. The key issue was how to contain the threat while preserving liberty.

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Madison believed that pluralism [pluralism: the idea that political power should be distributed and shared among various groups in a society] held the answer. Pluralism is the idea that political power should be distributed and shared among various groups in society. In theory, competition between these groups, along with an effective system of checks and balances, will prevent any one group from gaining too much power. According to Madison, interest groups competing in a pluralistic society should act as a check on tyranny and make government more representative.

Today, interest groups offer Americans a way to participate in the political process. Interest groups speak out on issues of concern to their members and the public at large. They present specialized information to government officials. They also monitor government actions to ensure that the rights and interests of their members are protected. In the process, interest groups help keep people informed about their government. Even though special interests occasionally influence the political system in negative ways, they play a critical role in the democratic process.

There are different types of interest groups, but one way that they are all similar is that interest groups support politicians that support their ideas. In government there are limited resources and interest groups want those resources directed toward their interest.

To promote their positions in government interest groups use two main methods. First, they employ lobbyist to put pressure on legislators and other public officials to influence public policy and laws that benefit the interest groups.

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Lobbyist use various techniques such as providing information, testifying, and organizing grass-root pressure.

Another way that interest groups try to influence government is by contributing money to political parties and candidates during election campaigns. By law, interest groups must form political action committees, PACs are private groups sponsored by corporations, trade associations, unions, or other interest groups. By law, PACs are allowed to collect donations and funnel that money into political campaigns. Most of these donations come from the employees or members of the group that formed the PAC.

Over the past decades, the amount of money raised and spent by PACs has grown. In 1980, PACs contributed about $131 million to candidates. By the 2004 election, that figure had risen to more than $310 million. Even adjusting for inflation, that is a substantial increase. Corporations are by far the top contributors to PACs, though many public interest groups, trade associations, and labor unions also make large donations.

Many Americans believe that PAC campaign contributions give interest groups too much influence over elected officials. Nevertheless, most research shows that PAC money does not buy votes in Congress. It does, however, give contributors greater access to lawmakers.

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It is important to note the differences between interest groups and political parties.

1. Nominations- Political parties are responsible for the nominating process, while interest groups hope to influence those nominations.

2. Primary focus- Political parties are interested in winning elections while interest groups are interested in influencing the policies created by government.

3. Scope of Interest- Political parties concern themselves with a wide range of issues and support one candidate per election. Interest groups focus on one issue while supporting candidates that will help their cause.

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Money

Impact why its important

Statistics

Correlation doesn’t mean causation

Explanations

Incumbents

Money to incumbents – safe bet

Campaign finance reform

Capture theory

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Media and propaganda

Campaign schedule

Back to question

Public choiceTheories on specific topicsWhy center isn’t represented

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Politics as economy activityPolitical spectrumOn the issuesA different spectrum Previous class results

Why is the center under represented?

Political parties and closed primaries Answer the question - deep pockets try to broaden base

Interest group/lobbyist/pacsCapture theoryPolitical invisible handAnswer the question- fringe organized not worth cost of fighting

Money and elections Answer questionIndividual donations smaller than pacs

Individuals cannot be organized - too diverse collective groups vs. concentrated benefits

Campaign finance reform- capture - lowering the supply per donator not the demand per candidate Answer the question

Voter's Rational ignorance - no real research on issues and candidates

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Create propaganda techniques that appeal to voters emotion an not logical or their rational thoughts Voters are not irrational they are often rationally ignorant Kissing babies - propaganda techniques Campaigns of slogans not policy Tv ads propagandaMoneyAnswer question

Election year eventMedian voter theorem and closed primary - answer question

Electoral college - 270 2 party system - answer question

3rd party candidate and median voter therein - answer question

Public choice theory foundations and questions

Economics deals with how private individuals allocate scarce resources by making private decisions , politics deals with how publicly elected individuals allocate public resources by making public decisions

Scarcity in markets and scarcity in government- similarities and differences

Businesses have real budgetsGovernments do not have set budgetsBureaucrats love big budgets - don't be too efficient or the budget will get gotMore rules and regulations mean more work and control and an expansion of the agency

When budgets need to be cut- make it stingBenedict Arnold statues of children's cancer drugs? The choice is easy

Comparing private self interest with political self interest, the invisible hand of the market vs. the invisible hand of politics

Political self-interest- they are the same human species as those who are not in politics

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If government were angels quote Federalist #10

Invisible hand if politics- opposite of the invisible hand in the market

Economics deals with how private choices are made in a market

Public choice deals with how public choices are made in government - all together different

Comparing voters and consumers Free exchanges are they mutually beneficial in the public sector

People but things because they think their lives will be improved, people vote for candidates for the same reasonsPeople vote with their money in the market and they vote with a ballot in politics - they get one vote but can also help fund

Voter's Rational ignorance - no real research on issues and candidates It's rational because voters no that the cost of knowledge is greater than the benefit of the single vote

When you yell at the tv- same as votingCreate propaganda techniques that appeal to voters emotion an not logical or their rational thoughts Voters are not irrational they are often rationally ignorant Kissing babies - propaganda techniques Campaigns of slogans not policy Tv ads propaganda

Politics and the English language

Money

Interest groups - their marginal private cost is larger but their marginal private benefit is much larger than their portion of the shared social cost

Rational ignorance

Utility maximization in economics and utility maximization in politics

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Rational Ignorance, Voting, and Politics.

One of the key things to consider is how well are voters informed? Additionally, does it make rational sense for voters to be informed?

Individual voters Interest groups/Political PartiesRational ignorance concentrated benefits and interestDispersed interest more moneySingle voteLimited donations

Receive slogans and propaganda receive policy

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As Adam Smith wrote, in the economic market people who only intend to serve their self-interest are driven by an invisible hand to serve the public interest, which was no part of their original intention.

Milton Friedman also explains that just like the economic market, there is an invisible hand in politics but it works in the opposite direction.

“In the government sphere, as in the market, there seems to be an invisible hand, but it operates in precisely the opposite direction from Adam Smith’s: an individual who intends only to serve the public interest by fostering government intervention is ‘led by an invisible hand to promote’ private interests, which was no part of his intention.”

Friedman explains why this happens,

“As we have seen in case after case, the general interest is defused over millions of people, the special interest is concentrated.”

If I decide to put this in unit 5

Remove from unit 3 page 238